Jeremy Renner chosen to star alongside Tom Cruise in MI:4!

Now this could be one explosive combination. Deadline has learned that Paramount has chosen Jeremy Renner(The Hurt Locker) to join Tom Cruise in next year's Mission: Impossible 4. It was just recently reported that Paramount and the film's director, Brad Bird, were set to begin screen testing of a few actors(notably his Hurt Locker co-star Anthony Mackie), but they decided that Renner was the best possible choice.

Renner's career has skyrocketed ever since The Hurt Locker was tops among virtually everybody's list of 2009's best films. This is the second major role he's secured since then, also being featured as Hawkeye in Marvel's The Avengers. He'll be seen next month in the Ben Affleck directed crime drama, The Town.

Reports are that Paramount wanted an actor who could possibly keep the franchise going if Cruise decides to depart at some point, or if they decided to shift the focus away from his Ethan Hunt character. There were rumors that Cruise's role would be diminished following the poor performance of his latest action film, Knight and Day.  They feel that Renner has a "Daniel Craig quality" that will allow his character to grow into a leading role.